Posts Tagged ‘MOM EA Directory’

Due to the changes in Employment Agency Rules and Regulations with regard to maid agencies in Singapore, I’ve not been able to update the blog - too busy ensuring compliance to the changes. My apologies for not being able to reply to your comments and questions sooner. I’ve compiled many of your questions and answers under Singapore Maid Agencies Complaints, Advice, Levy, etc. Do take a look.

I’m going to write this article as if you’re looking for a maid. The MOM has provided more tools to aid employers in their search for the “perfect” maid or Foreign Domestic Worker (FDW) as a result of the new EA rules and regulations.

A few things to note before we cover how to search for a good maid using the MOM EA Directory. A disclaimer: using the tools doesn’t mean you’ll definitely find the “perfect” maid. It just makes your chance a little better. It is also not a recommendation for any agency.

With that, do note that the MOM has restricted the fee the maid has to pay the agency to 2 months for 2 years of service to the employer. Also note that the Indonesian Embassy has enforced a minimum pay of S$450/month and 4 days off/month and the Philippines Embassy has enforced a minimum pay of USD400/month and 4 days off/month. However, with effect from 1 January 2013, all new maids contracted shall be given 4 days off in accordance to MOM rules, and any day-off cancelled shall be compensated at monthly salary/26 days x days-off cancelled or replaced with a rest day in the same month. The MOM did not dictate any minimum monthly salary.

What does all this mean to you, the employer? It means you will have to bear the “maid’s loan”. You can no longer deduct the salary against the maid’s loan like in the past. The difference shall be paid to the agency as the agent’s fee and it is in the range of $1,300 - $1,600 or more, depending on the agency. The rest will be covered by the maid paying 2 months’ salary to the agency.

In addition, you will have to deal with your maid (actually, I prefer the term “helper”, and I shall use helper from here onwards) going on days off. If you cancel the day off, you will either have to compensate the girl at monthly salary/26 calendar days x number of days-off cancelled or give her a replacement day-off in the month in which the day-off was cancelled. Failing to do so will subject you to a maximum fine of $5,000 and a maximum jail term of 6 months. This is serious. You must comply.

While MOM does not dictate the minimum wage of the girls, the embassies of the girls’ home countries have done so. Do you, as the employer, have to comply with that? The answer is preferably. This is because the embassies of Indonesia and the Philippines are enforcing their rules and they are blacklisting maid agencies and employers who do not comply with them. If you need the help of helpers from these countries, you are better off complying with their rules. This is especially so if you are getting new helpers from these countries.

Moreover, under the new regulations, there is no need for maid agencies to be accredited. They will come directly under the purview of the Commissioner of EA. In my opinion, going to agencies which remain accredited to the Consumers Association of Singapore is a “safer bet” because you can still complain to CASE if you have an issue with the agency.

Given the above, you have more to lose if you do not find a good helper in the first round. With this in mind, the MOM has come up with a EA Directory where all licensed agencies are listed. As a side note, anyone going to an unlicensed agency is also liable to a fine and jail term. So, before going to any agency, it is always a good idea to check whether they are listed in the MOM EA Directory.

3. Type of workers that EA places - click on Foreign domestic workers (FDW) because we are searching for maid agencies

4. Select district(s) - put a tick in all the boxes (again, we are searching all agencies based on certain criteria)

5. Advanced Search - click on Show (this is where we click on the criteria we want)

Advanced Search

We are using the following criteria because if you choose a few very restrictive criteria, you will either not have a single agency or enough agencies to choose from. I will explain why we choose certain figures.

1. Years since licence was issued - click on >5 years. If an agency can survive more than 5 years, they should be doing something right. Again, we are trying not to be too restrictive or your choices will be greatly reduced.

2. FDW Placement Volume - click on > 200. FDW Placement Volume is a moving 12 months average of the number of FDWs placed out by the agency. Any agency with > 200 placements is considered “major” by the MOM and has to place a higher security deposit with the MOM. This ensures that the agency is “serious” about their work. Again, if you choose too high a figure, it will greatly restrict your choices. You can try and see what you get.

3. Show only EAs with no demerit points - click on Yes. Needless to say, you only want agencies with no demerit points. These agencies are complying with MOM regulations.

4. FDW Retention success rate - click on >50. This is by far the most important criterion. But, you will have to read it together with #2 FDW Placement Volume. FDW Retention success rate means the percentage of helpers who remained employed with the same employer for 12 months or more. If an agency has a 50% retention rate, every 1 in 2 helpers is likely to work with the employer for 12 months or more. Again, a greater than 50% retention rate is actually quite outstanding in the industry. But, the placement volume has to be big enough to be significant. >200 would be a good measure to start off with since MOM deems that as a a criterion for an agency to place a higher security deposit.

5. FDW Transfer rate - click on 0-10. FDW Transfer rate refers to the percentage of helpers which the agency has placed out for 3 times or more. In other words, the same helper was transferred from 1 employer to another for 3 times or more. Basically, it may be an indication of whether the agency is trying to “bank roll” the maid and multiply out their profits on the same maid on different employers. Ideally, it should be zero (but less than 1 or even 2 is fine, so that you have more choices) because a “bad” helper shouldn’t be passed around from 1 employer to another just to multiply profits. But, then again, it may not be the girl’s fault. We don’t know for sure. You can read more about this maid agency scam (opens in new window) - scroll down to read 3. Customer multiplier effect to save yourself from this problem.

Then, click <Submit>. On the results page, click on View max 50 records per page. This will show all the agencies meeting the above criteria in 1 page. From here, you may wish to Google the agency’s name and do further research on them. See whether they have testimonials, etc. It would be a good idea to visit 3-5 agencies so that you can make a comparison about their people and their service.

Please note that you can “play around” with the above criteria and see what you can get out of it. But, I think the above criteria should be pretty useful to start off with.

In my opinion, it is also a good idea to do 1 more step. And, that is to see if they are accredited by the Consumers Association of Singapore for Good Business Practice. At least, if things don’t work out, you can complain about them to CASE. CASE has a mediation centre which will help you recover your money from the errant agencies, especially if they are accredited by CASE. Most agencies will return the money if they are CASE accredited because they wouldn’t want to lose their accreditation and reputation.

By doing the above, it means that you are looking at maid agencies that have met the above criteria. It doesn’t mean that your helper will work out for you. Your chance will probably be better. And if your agency is CASE accredited, you are better protected should things turn sour.

So that you have more choices, be aware that not all agencies will have new Indonesian or new Filipino helpers. Some agencies may cater to the Indian market or Expat market or Malay market. It doesn’t mean you shouldn’t give them a try. You may be surprised by the result. If they are good in that market, they are probably good for any market.

Also note that some agencies may only have transfer maids. These are experienced helpers who are already in Singapore looking to change employer and many have completed their initial contract. As far as I know, these transfer maids DO NOT incur the $1,300 to $1,600 agency fee as the new maids do. The agency fee should be about $500-$800, depending on agency. Hence, you can save a significant amount of money by employing transfer maids instead of new maids. You can click on Transfer Maids (new window opens) to read more about them and see if they are suitable for your family.

With this, I hope you can find the good helper that you need. Thank you for reading.